KAM PING WONG LEUNG was born in the Portuguese colony of Macau in 1929, and she moved to Hong Kong in 1949 just as the Communist party was taking over mainland China. She came to the US in 1957 after her sister in law, who had already emigrated, helped her apply. “I didn’t know anything about the US before I moved here,” Leung explains. When she arrived, she found work as a tailor, and the only place she knew how to get to was her job. After work, she took care of her kids—all of whom were diligent in their studies. “The US is better for children’s education,” she tells me. “All of my children worked very hard, they know education is the way to better living.” Leung has seven siblings, but five of them have passed away, and much of her family has come to the US. “I don’t miss my life in Hong Kong,” she says, “because once all the family members are here, this is home.”